“Experiencing low levels of state neuroticism may be most beneficial in high demanding tasks,” researchers write. In fact, one study found that low neuroticism can be twice as important for performance in situations requiring emotional stability.

We’re all a little neurotic sometimes, but our success hinges on keeping calm when stakes are highest. Below are three ways to remain emotionally level-headed under pressure:

One study found that situations requiring caution, self-discipline and threat anticipation occasionally benefited from worrying. Interestingly, this finding only applied to individuals with high cognitive ability. Researchers speculated that their reasoning ability could act as an “intermediary between the situation and the emotional impulse.” If you have the expertise or innate ability in a given scenario, channel your anxiety toward constructive reasoning (not helpless panic).

If I’m nervous for a job interview, I shouldn’t try to calm my nerves by just telling myself I’ll do great. Instead, I need to learn about the interviewer, write down questions, research the company and investigate the position. “Have you really done everything you can to prepare?” says Pimsleur.

2. Don’t get ahead of the story.

Anxious people are more likely to jump to conclusions. This instinct can sometimes yield positive results, like enhanced emotional intelligence. Other times, it causes us to “go down the rabbit hole,” as Pimsleur calls it:

“She’s going to reject my idea, and then I’m not going to get a promotion, and then I’m going to be out of a job, and then I won’t be able to pay my rent, and then I’ll have to move back in with my parents.”

Sound familiar? Stop yourself. “Do you actually have that data yet?”

Pimsleur describes receiving a letter from a civil action group in California threatening to sue her new company for $50,000. Rather than pulling her hair out, Pimsleur gathered as much information as she could. After three days, a lawyer told her that these groups rarely sue companies with under 10 employees. Pimsleur’s company had eight. “When we got to that piece of data, the problem went away.”

Freaking out doesn’t just compromise our clear-thinking capacity; it wastes time. “Really stop and think before you go into panic mode,” Pimsleur told me. “You never get that time back.”

Replace obsession with hope. One study (among dozens) found that more hopeful sales employees, mortgage brokers, and managers had higher job performance when measured a year later — even after controlling for cognitive ability. Hopeful executives also produce more and higher quality solutions to problems.